THE INCARCERATIONS REVIEWS CONTINUED…

‘Alpa Shah mines the interviews and archives starting from the life histories to legal court documents and news coverage to trace the agony of those standing up for the rights of the marginalised people…The Incarcerations tries to contextualise not just through evidence unearthed during fieldwork, but also while trying to connect the dots between the events ranging from ‘judicial’ murders to constitutional breaches by the State. In doing so The Incarcerations reiterates its raison d’etre which is to search for democracy.’ Prakriti Sharan, Oxford Public Philosophy

‘An essential read for everyone interested in the future of Indian democracy’ Anuradha Sengupta, Anuradhsays

‘This account offers a poignant and powerful portrayal of the ongoing struggle for justice within the world’s largest electoral democracy.’ Pallavi Sanil, LSE Review of Books

‘Told in propulsive prose, The Incarcerations is sweeping in scope and meticulous in its detail…it’s an account that shocks, illustrating the brazen lengths the state will go to quell dissent. But it’s also galvanising in its depiction of the group’s defiance.’ Megan Gibson, The New Statesman

‘…The Incarcerations is convincing on the degradation of civil society and of secular values in India…Shah presents striking evidence, drawing on expert forensic analysis, of the alleged planting of incriminating documents on the laptops of those detailed; cyber trails apparently point both to police officers and to Indian hackers-for-hire happy to do this sophisticated dirty work’ 4/5 stars Andrew Whitehead, The Telegraph

‘In public relations terms… India has a great national narrative. And, once embedded, narratives are very hard to shift. So, while the sending of assassins abroad fits with our preconceptions of Saudi Arabia and Russia, it contradicts our understanding of India and so has been discounted or even ignored. The Incarcerations shows how outdated the established narrative about India has become…The most interesting passages in The Incarcerations document in detail how the Indian government uses digital technology to not only monitor but also frame its opponents…Shah convincingly argues that key material in the prosecution cases against the sixteen activists…were fabrications planted by the Indian police on the computers of some of the accused.’ Owen Bennett-Jones, Literary Review 

‘What to Read in 2024’ The Financial Times